Willits water emergency

With water levels in local reservoirs continuing to drop, for the City of Willits going to a Phase 3 water restriction may not be sufficient to avoid running out of water.

The city announced on Dec. 20 it was likely to declare a Phase 3 water emergency on Jan. 8. A Phase 3 emergency cuts commercial usage by 15 percent and limits single family residences to 250 gallons per day.

The "normal" use in 2012 for a single family residence was 241 gallons per day.

If every residence and business cuts back by 15 percent this will only save 129 acre feet in a year. This would mean, barring rains arriving to save the day, reservoirs will be completely empty on or before Aug. 1.

A more substantial cut back of about 50 percent means the reservoirs would be dry in November, barring saving rains. This projection also assumes the amount of water being released from Morris Reservoir does not at any time exceed the natural flow into it, that evaporation losses are minimal and that the reservoirs actually hold the amount of acre feet advertised.

The city could also declare a Phase 4 water emergency; this would limit single family residences to 200 gallons per day and commercial ventures must cut back by 25 percent. A Phase 4 emergency would limit single family residences to 150 gallons per day and cutback commercial accounts by 35 percent.

In 2012, single family residences used 52 percent of the metered water, commercial and industrial uses used 29 percent and multiple family residences used 16 percent.